Dean's Pokemon Adventure
by craw-heeb
Summary: One summer morning, I wake up to discover that this is no ordinary day . . . I'm transported to the pokémon world with 2 friends, and we embark on an incredible, action-packed adventure through the entire continent of Kanto. Reviews are much appreciated!
1. Part I: The Journey Begins

I wrote this story several years ago, and I've never intended to put it on fanfiction or anything. But since I've heard about this site, I'm gonna try and re-edit the whole story and post it up here to see what people think of it. It's been several years in the making, and it's pretty much the ultimate pokémon adventure of all time. Hope you enjoy it. (I do not own pokémon. Pokémon is © Nintendo/Creatures Inc./GAME FREAK Inc.) (Just to give you an idea of how long it is, the final product is about half the size of the third Harry Potter book, which is about a third the size of the seventh book, with the exact same font, page size, and margin size. So it's fairly long, but not terribly long. I've split each chapter on this site up so they're no longer than 2 pages each to make it easier to read—I'm trying to make it as easy as possible to read to encourage you to read the whole thing!) It starts off kinda slow, but trust me, there's a lot of great action and adventure as it goes on, so don't miss out on it!

**Part One:**

**The Journey Begins**

It was June 26th, and I had just woken up. I rolled over with my eyes half shut to look at the time. It was 8:23, (A.M. of course). I got dressed quickly, and then opened my window to see how good the weather was. The sky was a beautiful blue with some puffy cumulus clouds scattered around. The temperature was just how I like it—it must have been somewhere in the mid-to-high sixties. This warm summer weather was definitely a relief after the school year, which ended a week-and-a-half ago. I was really looking forward to this summer. I was going into 8th grade—my very last year before high school—so I had to make this summer a good one. Today I was planning on hanging out with my best friend Jordan, who lived a couple blocks away.

For some reason, I had good feelings about today. Somehow, I felt like something was going to happen . . . something unusual . . .

Little did I know what amazing adventures this summer had in store for me . . .

A few minutes later, I heard a loud speaker from outside. "Mikey Kadez and Dean Frank, please report to the Transportation Station! Mikey Kadez, Dean Frank, please report to the Transportation Station!" "Transportation Station? What the crap is that?!" I said to myself, totally confused. I jogged through my house, and out the front door. I turned to my right where the loud speaker's sound was coming from. A large three story building stood where the Arrowhead Apartments in my neighborhood were supposed to be. It was bright blue with red trim. "Okay, apparently that's it . . ." I said, a little freaked out. How in the world could they have built that thing so fast, and without me even noticing?! I quickly slipped my shoes on, and walked up to the huge place. After I entered the glass double-doors at the main entrance, I found myself in a gigantic, blue-tiled room. My footsteps echoed loudly as I made my way over to the front desk where a professional looking woman with dark brown hair was standing. "Welcome to the Transportation Station. May I help you?" she asked politely. "Uh, yeah, I'm Dean Frank, and I was called here for some reason," I said, not knowing what to say. "Ah, yes. You were called to go see Professor Nick on the third floor in room 37," she told me. "Have a nice day."

I walked up a wide flight of blue tiled stairs, then I turned around and went up another one. There were large windows in front of me that overlooked my street below—I could see my house, the fourth house down on the left side of the street. I turned back around, facing the stairs I just came up, and saw a door on my left, marked with the number 37. It was on a corner where two hallways intersected at a right angle. I walked over, opened the door, and found myself in a small office with a low roof. A man with bright blonde hair, a baggy red Hawaiian shirt, a pair of cool shades, and baggy khaki shorts sat at a wooden desk in front of me. One of his feet was on the edge of the desk, and he was leaning back lazily in his chair. "Hey, dude, what's up?" he asked me in a surfer-dude voice. Apparently this was his natural voice. "I was called here to see Professor Nick . . ." I told him. "Well, you came to the right place, bro. I'm Professor Nick. You can call me Nick," he said. He stood up and shook my hand, then said, "Follow me." He opened a door in the back of his office. We were now in a larger, blue-tiled room with an enormous metal cylinder-shaped machine in the center. I saw someone else in the room, the same age as me. He was wearing a red cap turned backwards, with a thin orange vest, a white T-shirt with some kind of logo on it, and baggy blue jean shorts. "This is my son, Mikey Kadez. He'll be traveling with you," Nick said to me. "Hi," we said to each other, shaking hands. I'd never met this guy before, but he seemed to have a friendly air about him. "What do you mean by 'traveling'?" I asked Nick. "Sit back and listen carefully, dude, and I'll tell you the whole story," Nick responded.

"You and Mikey have been chosen to go on your own pokémon adventure. You'll have a choice to go to either Kanto or Johto to start in. From Kanto, you can take the S. S. Anne to Jurassic Island, an island that was discovered only about 3 years ago. They've already built restaurants and stores there, and of course the totally awesome Jurassic Pokémon Reservation. It's pretty tite, dude! If you choose to go to Johto, you'll get to check out mysterious places like the Tin Tower and the Ruins of Alph. Of course, once you've completely traveled around one of the two places, you can always check out the other place. So, what'll it be dudes?" I stood there speechless, obviously thinking this was some kind of a joke, but he seemed totally serious. What in the world was going on here? Who in the heck was this guy?! Mikey looked surprised as well, but not in a skeptical way . . . apparently he was believing this crap. I thought for a while, and decided to play along, just to see what was going on here. "Uh . . . well . . . I guess going to Kanto would be cool . . ." I said. "Yeah, sounds good to me," agreed Mikey, after a little hesitation. After another few seconds of silence, Nick exclaimed, "Gnarly, dudes! Kanto it is! All right, all you gotta do is jump in this transporter thingy . . ." he motioned toward the big metal machine, "and push the red button when you get inside, after the door closes—that'll take ya to Professor Oak's Lab in Pallet Town. He'll tell ya what ya need to know from there," Nick explained. "Have a nice trip, dudes!" he finished as we waved to him while stepping into the transporter. By now I was feeling like a total idiot, but curiosity got the best of me.

The door automatically slid shut. "Okay, here we go . . ." Mikey said as I pushed the button. This felt so ridiculous that I almost laughed, but managed to hold it in. I had absolutely no clue what to expect; surely, though, this would be interesting. A humming motor started, and gradually got louder. Everything turned pitch black, then an electronic woman's voice came through a speaker above us: "Welcome to the Glidermoon Transporter X9. Please relax, and enjoy the ride." The humming motor grew much louder. Wind starting rushing around very fast, blowing our clothes around. It soon became so strong that I could barely hold myself still. "Oh, gosh!" I shouted, as the ground disappeared beneath my feet. There were butterflies in my stomach—I was a little freaked out now, and was definitely starting to regret this! We were twirling around rapidly, flying into the darkness. I couldn't even tell what directing we were moving in! "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" screamed Mikey. It gradually grew brighter, and I could now see Mikey spinning around all over about 5 feet from me. Far up ahead I could see a bright white light coming up fast, but I could barely keep it in my view. A few seconds later, we reached the light, and then . . . BOOM!


	2. Part II: Pallet Town to Pewter City 1

**Part Two:**

**Pallet Town to Pewter City**

I opened my eyes, noticing that we were still in the transporter thingy. It felt really strange to be on solid ground, like after being on a trampoline for hours. Mikey and I had fallen on the floor, and were little dazed. I sat up and shook my head. The motor sound gradually died down. "That was crazy, man . . ." Mikey said, lifting himself off the floor. The door opened, revealing the strangest looking place I had ever seen . . . it was like a cartoon, and yet real . . . My mind could not process what I was seeing right now, but it felt so natural that it had to be reality. I stood there, eyes wide, completely frozen, as a familiar figure (also a cartoon) walked to the front of the transporter. "Well, you must be Dean and Mikey! Hello! I am Professor Oak, and you are now in my lab in Pallet Town. Please, come and sit down," he said to us.

We walked into what appeared like the pokémon cartoon show, only it was completely three-dimensional, and not in computer animation or virtual reality . . . but in actual reality. I simply could not explain what I was experiencing. It was freaky and exciting all at the same time. I had no idea what to think. We followed Professor Oak to some cozy red couches. There were beakers and science equipment all over the place on large metal tables. "Professor Nick told me you were arriving. I have lots of information to tell you before you set out on your adventure," began Professor Oak. He cleared his throat, then continued, "First of all, you'll need a starting pokémon of course. I'll let you choose them after I'm done explaining. I will also give you a free pokédex, backpacks, and a couple of MRE's so you won't starve to death! You'll need to buy things like pokéballs and potions at the pokémart in Viridian City, just north of here. Ah, yes, I will also give you the very new pokémon navigator, or the pokénav; a must-have for all trainers now! It just came out this year, and will be very helpful to you. It contains a full map of the Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn regions. Of course, you'll only need the Kanto map. Hmm . . . well, since I know you two already know a lot about pokémon, I don't think I'll need to explain much more. You can now choose—" Professor Oak suddenly stopped talking. Very strange whispering voices filled the air. It sounded as if they were coming from inside my head. I couldn't make out what they were saying. "What the heck is that!?" I said, startled. "You hear it too!?" Mikey and Professor Oak said in unison. "What are they saying?" I asked, hoping that somebody would know. "Hmm . . . out . . . out . . . outside? I believe they are saying 'go outside' or something . . ." Professor Oak answered.

We walked outside of Professor Oak's lab. It was very peaceful out here. His lab was on a big hill, surrounded by trees, overlooking Pallet Town. I looked into the sky, as if I expected to see something—and I did! A bright pink light flashed high in the sky. "Whoa! Dude, check that out!" I said in amazement. Mikey and Professor Oak looked up. "What is that!?" asked Mikey, curiously. A light-blue colored thingy with some white on it was falling from where the light flashed. It had a snake-like shape. "Hmm . . . well, it looks like a Dratini!" guessed Professor Oak. I stared at it as it fell, and started to run over to where it was falling. Once I was right below it, I jumped up and caught it, then fell on the ground, rolling down the hill a few feet. Professor Oak and Mikey jogged over to me. The thing in my arms felt so real, I was almost shocked. This cartoon world felt just like real-life. "Are you alright?" asked Professor Oak. "Yeah . . ." I said, standing up and putting the Dratini down. "Dang, dude, that was an awesome catch," Mikey commented. "Yeah, thanks," I told him. "That Dratini looks like it's in terrible shape! I'll take him to my lab to heal him up," Professor Oak said, worriedly. He picked up the Dratini, and we returned to his lab.

Professor Oak placed the Dratini inside a glass half-cylinder case, on top of a blue padded table. "He should be back to normal in just a few minutes," informed Professor Oak. "Well, now it's time for you to choose your starting pokémon. You have a choice of these six: Squirtle, Charmander, Bulbasaur, Totodile, Cyndaquil, and Chikorita." He paused for a moment, thinking, then said, "Hmm . . . Dean, you saved that Dratini's life. Perhaps that means you deserve to choose him as your starter. That is, if it's alright with Mikey." Mikey nodded and said, "Yeah, fine with me." "Who will you choose as a starter, Mikey?" Professor Oak asked. "I'll take Cyndaquil," Mikey responded, without hesitation. "Well, that was quick! Okay, I'll go get your pokémon. Be right back!" Professor Oak said, leaving to get Mikey's pokémon.

I sat back down on one of the red couches, holding my head, trying to relax and take in what had happened in the past several minutes. It felt like an eternity since I was in my room, enjoying the weather, thinking about my plans for the summer . . . I felt a little worried that I wouldn't be able to return to the "real" world, but something told me I would, and I kept an ironclad grip on that hope. This experience was so real, yet so unreal at the same time . . .

Mikey sat down next to me. "You feeling all right, man?" he asked. "Uh . . . yeah . . . I guess so . . ." I replied. I could not understand how he could be so calm, but that was the least of my worries at this point. I held my hand in front of my face, making sure I hadn't been turned into a cartoon myself. I was relieved to see that I still looked normal, as did Mikey. I was glad that at least something looked familiar. Strangely, though, we didn't look totally out of place like we were in a Roger Rabbit cartoon or something; we almost seemed to blend in. "So . . . where . . . where are we?" I asked. "We're in Kanto, dude, remember? That's where you said you wanted to go, right?" answered Mikey. I suddenly remembered being in Professor Nick's office, and that I thought this had all been a complete joke . . . Now that I realized the truth, I had a newfound respect for that Nick guy, and was wishing we were still back there so I could talk to him again.

When Professor Oak came back, the Dratini was fully healed up. He carried him out of the case and put him down in front of me, then he handed Mikey the pokéball with Cyndaquil in it. "Oh, I'm afraid I don't have a pokéball for your Dratini," Professor Oak told me. "That's okay. I guess he can just follow me around," I replied. Professor Oak handed us each a backpack. "There's 3000 dollars in each of your backpacks," he informed, handing them to us. Mikey and I smiled and said together, "Holy crap! Are you serious?!" Professor Oak laughed and said, "Yes, but that's in pokédollars; they're worth the same as the Japanese Yen. Sorry, but I'm not the richest person around, you know!" Our excitement wore off, but I was still glad he decided to help us out.

We walked outside, ready to explore the world of pokémon for our first time. We waved to Professor Oak as we started down the hill towards the houses. Pallet Town was completely residential, so there were no stores, and not much to see. We had to go straight to Viridian City if we wanted to do anything.


	3. Part II: Pallet Town to Pewter City 2

As we walked along the main path through Pallet Town between all the houses, Mikey suddenly spoke up, "Hmm . . . ya know, Ash lives around here, doesn't he? Cuz I was thinking . . . maybe we could give him a visit." "Yeah . . . I guess . . ." I said. I started remembering some of the other characters I had seen in the pokémon cartoon before. Did they really exist here? How similar was this place to the pokémon world I had seen in the TV show? I followed Mikey around town. Apparently he had a good idea of where Ash's house was. Dratini followed us, slithering alongside me.

"Hey, that's it—I think that's his house," said Mikey hopefully, pointing towards a house. We walked up, and Mikey knocked on the door. "I can't believe we're doing this. I mean, even if he does exist, he obviously doesn't know us," I whispered. "Shh!" said Mikey. Footsteps were coming from inside, then the door opened. The woman standing there looked familiar . . . it was Ash's mom, from the TV show! This was definitely getting weird, if it wasn't weird enough already. "Uh, hi! Is . . . is Ash around?" Mikey asked. He seemed a little unsure. Ash's mom looked a little skeptical, but she seemed to know we were trustworthy people. She wasn't startled at all by our appearance, which I thought she would have. "Yes, one second . . ." she said, walking back into the house. "Ash! Ash! Two kids are waiting outside for you!" Ash walked up to the door a few seconds later. Wow, this was weird. "Uh . . . hey, Ash. My name's Mikey, and . . . and this is Dean," said Mikey. Ash hesitated for a moment, then said, "Um . . . hi . . . Uh, do I know you?" "Um, no, actually . . . we just uh . . . um . . ." Mikey began. He was obviously struggling for words—he must've realized how stupid he sounded. What in the heck were we supposed to say, anyway?! Mikey cleared his throat and continued, "Well, we know all about you and stuff—ya know, your adventures and everything—and just thought we'd stop by and say 'hey.'" "Oh . . . okay . . ." said Ash, still bemused. "Well, uh, I guess we'll see ya later then. Maybe we'll run into each other again sometime . . ." said Mikey. "Yeah . . . okay . . . well, see ya," said Ash. We turned around and walked away, realizing what a stupid idea that was.

We passed through the town, and were on our way to Viridian City. I took out my pokénav and looked at the map of Kanto. "Well, we're on route 1, heading north to Viridian City from Pallet Town," I said. It was very calm and peaceful on this route. We were walking on a tan colored dirt path. On either side of the path there was some long grass. There were a few trees as well, mostly on the left side. Pidgeys and Rattatas were running around near the trees and in the tall grass. Finally, I was getting used to this place. It was beginning to feel normal. My brain seemed to be kicking back into gear, and I suddenly realized what the point of this whole pokémon world was. "Why don't we try out our pokémon?" I suggested. "Yeah," Mikey agreed.

I spotted a Rattata, and sent Dratini out to battle. "Dratini, uh, use your wrap attack," I ordered, a little unsure. I never thought I'd be doing this in real life! I started to feel like an idiot again. Dratini slithered over and wrapped around the Rattata, squeezing him hard. Rattata broke free, and used tackle, knocking Dratini backwards into the ground. "Um, I guess use wrap again," I said. Dratini obeyed, and this time Rattata couldn't break free—he fainted, falling limply to the ground. "All right! Not bad," I said, patting Dratini on the head. It didn't seem all that great yet, but I knew this pokémon battling stuff would get pretty exciting later on. I just noticed that Mikey had started a battle with a Pidgey. "Cyndaquil, ember attack!" Mikey shouted confidently. Cyndaquil shot flaming embers at the Pidgey, then Pidgey used its gust attack. Cyndaquil spun around in the air and fell to the ground with a soft thud. "Finish it off with tackle!" Mikey ordered. Cyndaquil charged forward, and knocked the Pidgey into the grass. "Sweet. Well, I'd say we're off to an okay start," said Mikey, holding out his pokéball. Cyndaquil turned into a pink stream of light, and shot back into the pokéball in a flash.

We continued down the path, and soon saw Viridian City. It was much larger than we expected, but then again Pallet Town was as well. A trainer a little younger than us walked up to me and said, "Hey! You wanna battle?" "Sure," I said. I was a little nervous, but I felt fairly confident in my ability as a trainer, with all those hours I had spent playing the gameboy game. "Go, Dratini!" I said. "Go, Charmander!" said the other trainer. "Dratini, pound attack," Dratini slammed his tail down on the Charmander. He seemed to be hurt pretty bad already. "Charmander, use scratch!" Charmander lifted its arm, then swiped down at Dratini. "Dratini, wrap attack!" I said, a little more confidently. Dratini coiled himself around the Charmander. He squeezed 3 times, and the Charmander fainted. "Yeah! Way to go, Dratini!" I shouted in celebration. "Dang! Charmander, return," said the other trainer. "Hey, good battle. See ya later guys!" Awesome, I actually won my first battle!

We walked into the city, and headed straight into the pokémon center. "Hello! Welcome to our pokémon center. We heal your pokémon back to perfect health. Would you like to heal your pokémon?" said the lady, (nurse joy), at the desk. Wow, this was all too familiar . . . "Yeah, sure," I said. "Me too," Mikey added. She took Cyndaquil and Dratini and put them in the healing thing, or whatever it's called. "Thank you for coming! We hope to see you again!" she said, handing us our pokémon. We stepped outside into the warm sun, and finally noticed how crowded it was in this place. There were swarms of people, some with their pokémon, walking all over the city. "This place is a little more crowded than I was expecting," said Mikey. "Yeah . . . I guess it's becoming kinda popular now. The Elite Four is that way . . . oh, and there's the Trainer House, I remember that place . . ." I said. It felt strange that I recognized so much, considering, of course, that I had never been here before. I was definitely glad I learned so much from watching the show and playing the games. Now I could actually apply my knowledge in real life!

We walked around, and decided to pick up some supplies at the pokémart. I scanned the shelves, looking for potions and pokéballs. Mikey followed, looking for the same stuff. I picked up 5 potions and 3 pokéballs, then I started looking for some antidote. "Antidote . . . antidote . . . um . . . oh, here it is," I said, picking up 3 bottles. I walked up to the counter. "Is this all you'll be buying today, sir?" said the store clerk guy. "Yeah," I replied. "Okay . . . your total is 2200," said the clerk. I handed him the money, then walked outside with Dratini. Mikey came out a few seconds later. "So what do we do now?" he asked. "Uh . . . well, all the trainers around here are on their way to the Elite Four, or taking on Viridian gym . . . We should probably go to Pewter City. I think that's more at our level," I suggested.

We pushed our way through the huge crowds, and spotted route 2 at the far north end of the city. An old guy came up to us, and said crazily, "Hello! Do you kids know how to catch pokémon?" "Um, I think we're alright," I told him. "Oh, come on, I just had my coffee, and I'm ready to teach you kids!" he persisted. "Okay, fine," I told him. A Weedle walked out from under a tree about twenty feet away. "Ah, a target!" said the old man. We slowly walked up to it. "Okay, first, you gotta weaken the target pokémon. Unfortunately I don't have any pokémon to weaken him with, so I'll just use a pokéball," he explained, talking quietly, so as not to startle the Weedle. He pulled a pokéball out of his pocket. "Okay, watch carefully now. You must throw with perfect accuracy, which takes practice." He threw the pokéball, and hit the Weedle dead-center. "Woohoo! I got it! From here on out, you gotta hope to goodness that your target won't break out of the pokéball. If it does, you gotta do it all over again." The ball shook back and forth a little, then stopped. "Yes! See what happened? The ball stopped shaking, so that means the pokémon has been captured! Yahoo!" He jogged happily over to the pokéball. "Now you know how to catch pokémon! If you ever have any troubles, just come back here and ask me! See ya later, kids!" We waved to him, then continued on. Crazy old man!

Route 2 was surrounded with trees, and was a lot more lush and grassy. There didn't appear to be as many pokémon on this route. We still saw some Pidgeys and Rattatas around. Far ahead, we could see the edge of the Viridian Forest. It looked a lot larger than I expected. There weren't any trainers on this route—they must have all been in the forest.


	4. Part II: Pallet Town to Pewter City 3

A wooden sign marked the entrance, which said "Viridian Forest." "Okay, here we are," I said. "Yeah, the forest. I hear there's a lot of Beedrills in here, so we better be careful," Mikey warned. We started into the forest. The trees were very thick, and it was quite dark. All the plants and everything were very lush and green. It was a cozy environment. Pidgeys flew from tree to tree, while Rattatas scampered across the trail. Caterpies and Weedles were eating leaves, and Kakunas and Metapods hung from tree branches. This place was filled with pokémon!

A couple of little kids with bug catching nets approached us. "Hey, let's battle!" said one of them. "Okay," Mikey and I agreed. We each took on one trainer. "Go, Dratini!" "Go, Caterpie!" Suddenly, an idea came to mind. I don't know why, but I thought of a new way to train my pokémon. I could teach them how to fight on their own, and just give them pieces of advice along the way. That way, I wouldn't have to waste all the time telling them what to do. Unfortunately, Dratini didn't know enough attacks yet for me to really teach him anything. With only "wrap" and "pound", he could just use any attack he wanted. "Dratini, use any attack you want. You can fight on your own—don't be afraid. Trust me. I'm gonna teach you a new way to battle," I told him. Dratini nodded, looking a little unsure, but he seemed fairly confident in himself. Dratini used his wrap attack, and squeezed 3 times. The Caterpie was nearly gone. "Caterpie, use tackle!" commanded the trainer. Caterpie charged forward and knocked Dratini backwards. Dratini now decided to use pound. He lifted his tail, and beat the Caterpie into the ground. "Oh no! Come back, Caterpie! Go Weedle!" Dratini used pound again, and made Weedle stick into the ground a little. "Weedle, use your poison sting attack!" Weedle charged at Dratini with his poison spike. Dratini was injured pretty badly, but luckily he wasn't poisoned. Dratini decided to finish him off with pound again; BAM, critical hit! Weedle couldn't take anymore, and pitifully fell to the ground. "Aaah! Weedle, return!" shouted the kid worriedly.

After our battles were over, I had Dratini drink a potion. He was back to normal in no time. "How'd your battle go?" Mikey asked. "Good. Dratini took 'em out easily. Yours?" I replied. "Excellent. Cyndaquil's ember took both of 'em out in one hit!" I kneeled down next to Dratini. "I'm gonna have you learn to fight on your own. It'll make you strong, but I'll have to teach you a lot of stuff. Most pokémon just do what their trainers tell them, so I'm giving you some freedom. I believe you're smart enough to do this on your own," I told him. He nodded in agreement. "Okay, cool! I can't really teach you much right now because you only have two attacks, so it doesn't matter which one you use; but remember, your attacks aren't very effective against rock or steel pokémon. They won't work at all against the ghost type, so keep that in mind." I finished my explanation, then we got up and continued through the forest.

There were less and less trainers as we continued on. We only fought a couple more battles so we didn't waste too many of our items. The trees kept getting thicker and thicker, and there seemed to be a lot less pokémon, but they were probably just hiding in the grass and behind trees and bushes. It was a very quiet, soothing walk.

"Dude, don't you think we should catch more pokémon?" asked Mikey. I thought for a moment, then responded, "Yeah, we definitely should; but there's hardly any good pokémon in this place. Only bug pokémon and stuff are around here." "Yeah, well I don't care. I'm gonna catch me a bug pokémon. I mean, we can't expect there to be good pokémon just waiting around every corner," Mikey said. "Yeah, good point," I agreed.

We walked on for about half an hour more, then stopped at a tree to rest. Mikey let his Cyndaquil loose so it could get some fresh air. Dratini curled up on a large, smooth boulder next to the tree. I looked at the tree for a couple of seconds, seeing if it would be good to climb. I loved climbing trees, and was curious if I could see anything up there. I jumped onto the first branch and pulled myself up. I worked my way up to almost the top of the tree. There was a clearing in the branches where I could see the vast forest. "Whoa, dude! This place is HUGE!" I exclaimed, looking at the hundreds upon hundreds of treetops. I saw a branch shake in a distant tree. I peered over to it, looking closely. There was a pokémon on it, colored tan with a white stomach. It was some kind of bird. "Hmm . . . that looks like a . . . a Farfetch'd!" I said. "What do you see!?" Mikey shouted up to me. "There's a Farfetch'd in a tree way over there!" I called back. Farfetch'd was WAY too rare to be in a place like the Viridian Forest! I slowly climbed back down the branches, and jumped to the ground. "I think I'm gonna try and catch it," I said with determination. "What? Dude, that would be way too hard," Mikey told me. "Yeah, well, like you said, there aren't gonna be many good pokémon waiting for us around every corner. Opportunity has knocked, so I'm answerin' the door!" I said.

We pushed our way through the bushes, Dratini following close behind me. Mikey called back his Cyndaquil so it wouldn't get lost. I was jogging steadily through the trees, constantly looking upward for the Farfetch'd. I turned to the right, jumping over logs and rocks. "It should be right . . ." I said, jogging farther. "Here!" I looked up into a tree, and noticed the Farfetch'd sitting on the branch. "How're we gonna catch it if—" Mikey started, but I interrupted, "Shh!" I took a few steps forward. Unfortunately, the Farfetch'd jumped to another tree. I kept my eyes locked on it. It flew to yet another tree, so we started to run over to it. Then it started to fly from tree to tree without stopping. I ran at nearly full speed, Mikey and Dratini following behind. I jumped over more logs and bushes, and tried to keep my eye on the Farfetch'd. I nearly tripped on a stump, but quickly regained my balance and started running even faster. "Hey, wait up!" Mikey yelled from behind. I wasn't going to stop. I kept on running.

We were soon led back to the trail, but I had lost sight of the Farfetch'd. Mikey, followed by Dratini, came up behind me a little while later. "Dude . . . I think we lost it . . ." Mikey said, gasping for air. I stared up at the trees, hoping to find the Farfetch'd, but I found nothing. "Dang! Guess I'll just have to settle for a bug pokémon or something . . ." I said in defeat. I sat down with my back against the tree we were at before. Mikey laid out on the trail, and Dratini curled up on the rock again. I breathed hard for a couple of minutes, regaining my energy. I was getting awfully hungry, so I grabbed my bag and unzipped it. Then I heard rustling leaves above me, like something landed on a branch. I looked up, but saw nothing. "What was that?" I asked. I heard a small thump sound, and looked in front of me. It was the Farfetch'd! Without hesitating, I got up and shouted, "Go, Dratini! We're catching this guy, so don't fight him off—just make him really weak." Dratini knew what to do. He used his wrap attack to slowly drain the life out of the Farfetch'd. Once its life was very low, I pulled a pokéball out of my bag, and threw with perfect accuracy. It hit the Farfetch'd, and a pink light shot out of the ball and sucked him inside. The ball shook on the ground . . . then again . . . then again . . . and then . . . . . . it stopped! "YES! Holy crap, I actually caught him!" I picked up the pokéball, and put it in my bag.


	5. Part II: Pallet Town to Pewter City 4

We ate our MRE's, and then continued walking for a couple more hours. It seemed to be getting darker, but it was difficult to tell in the dense forest. Finally, we emerged from the trees, and discovered a large clearing. It was past twilight, and we could see a few stars in the sky. We had walked this long and not even made it out of the forest. The pokémon world was definitely way bigger than I imagined. My legs were sore and aching, and we were both totally wiped out. "Well, I guess this is a good place to rest for the night," I said. We walked over to a stump in the middle of the clearing, and pulled our sleeping bags out of our packs, laying them out on the ground. Mikey and I set our pokémon free for the night. Farfeth'd flew over to a nearby tree and perched on a branch, as if keeping watch for us. Dratini slid up onto the stump, yawned, and began to fall asleep. Mikey and I crawled into our sleeping bags. "Ahhhhh . . . man, it feels good to rest," I said as the pressure was relieved from my legs. I was very warm and cozy now. Mikey took off his hat and set it on his bag next to him. Even though the ground was pretty hard, I actually felt very comfortable; of course, after a day that exciting, it was hard not to be. Mikey yawned and said, "Well, that was pretty much the coolest day of my entire life." "Heck yeah, same here," I agreed. "So, how long are we actually staying here? In this pokémon world, I mean?" I asked. "Well . . . my dad said we'd be able to tour all of Kanto. So, we'll have plenty of time to see everything, I'm sure. I can't wait. We've barely gotten started. Just imagine how much more amazing things are going to get as we move on." "Yeah . . . So, have you ever been here before?" I said. "No. I've always wanted to come here, though. My dad was always telling me about it, how it's actually a real place. We're some of the only people who know about it," Mikey replied.

This world suddenly felt far more expansive as I sat there, looking up into the sky. Life was different in this place—it was free and adventurous, and seemed to be without any limits. I thought about all the things we would eventually be able to see with our own eyes, instead of just imagining them . . . Mt. Moon, the S.S. Anne, Saffron City, Cinnabar Island, the Elite Four . . . and, most of all, the pokémon. At that moment, I realized that we were some of the only people who would ever get to experience this . . . almost nobody else would ever know what it was like to live in the pokémon world, and I knew I would never take this for granted. My dreams had come true in a way that was incredibly real, more real than I could ever fathom.

Before I drifted off to sleep, I gazed at the stars scattered across the universe, and I thought about the legendary pokémon that were out there, waiting to be discovered. I hoped that one day we would encounter them and befriend them, and become legends ourselves. The wonder and mystery of those incredible pokémon filled the atmosphere around me . . . Suddenly, there was a bright pink streak among the stars . . . and somehow I knew that it was more than just a meteor . . .

The next morning finally came. I felt well rested, but also very hungry. I got up, stretched, and yawned. Mikey woke up just a few seconds later. "Ahhh, I slept great. How about you?" asked Mikey. "Yeah, sure did," I replied. Dratini and Cyndaquil were also stretching and yawning, on the stump. "Where did Farfetch'd go?" I asked. "Hm? I dunno. Oh, wait, he's over there," Mikey said, pointing to the far end of the clearing. Farfetch'd was swinging his leek around like a ninja, jumping and flipping around gracefully. Apparently he was practicing for battle. "Whoa, that's tite!" Mikey said, watching Farfetch'd's moves intently. "I didn't know he could do that!" I exclaimed.

We quickly headed to Pewter City, hoping we were close so that we could get something to eat. Luckily, we were only about ten minutes away. We dashed into the first place we could find and ordered some food. I got a cheeseburger, a hot dog, some bottled water, and fries. Mikey bought a sandwich, chips, and a soda. We sat on a wooden bench and scarffed down our food. "Mmm, this stuff is better than the stuff back at home!" Mikey said with his mouth full. "Yeah . . ." I agreed, stuffing the cheeseburger in my mouth. We completely consumed our entire meal in just a few minutes, and then bought a few more supplies for our pokémon.

Pewter Gym was our next goal to accomplish, so we had to get training. We went back to Viridian Forest to train since it was the best place to find pokémon. I had Dratini go out on his own and train by himself, while I worked on training Farfetch'd. "Okay, I'm gonna teach you a new way to battle that will make you stronger than normal pokémon. You have to be willing to learn battle tactics on your own. I've seen you do a few moves by yourself, and you have an awesome start, but you've gotta know about the different types and their pros and cons," I explained to Farfetch'd. "Now, you're a normal/flying-type, so you're average against a lot of pokémon. Keep in mind that your moves will be weak against the rock pokémon in the next gym." I explained a few more things, and then we got started on training.

Farfetch'd followed me off the trail into the thick grass, where we quickly met up with a Weedle. "Go Farfetch'd!" I shouted. "Okay, Weedle is a bug-type pokémon. Flying pokémon are strong against the bug type. Be sure to use attacks that are most effective against the type you're battling; so, in this case, you can use your 'peck' attack." Farfetch'd did as I told him, and pecked at Weedle. Weedle was damaged very badly, almost knocking him out already. "Yeah! Good job! See how effective that was? Now it won't take much effort to take him out. Since 'peck' is your only offensive move right now, go ahead and use it again to take him out," I explained. Weedle used its string shot attack, shooting a thin string that wrapped tightly around Farfetch'd. Farfetch'd's speed fell. Farfetch'd used peck once again to take out Weedle.

Mikey and I trained for a very long time—nearly an hour! I switched between Dratini and Farfetch'd, getting my pokémon up to a sturdy level 10. Farfetch'd learned the flying attack gust, and Dratini learned the electric attack thunder wave. Now I had a couple of cool new moves to use in battle! Mikey trained his Cyndaquil up to the same level, and his pokémon learned the smokescreen attack.

"Dude, I seriously have to get another pokémon before I battle at the gym," Mikey said. We searched around in the thick grass, and soon encountered a Caterpie. "Okay, well, here we go. Go, Cyndaquil!" Mikey sent out his Cyndaquil, who was ready for battle. "Cyndaquil, tackle attack!" Cyndaquil charged forward, and knocked the Caterpie into a roll. Caterpie used its tackle attack also, but didn't knock Cyndaquil back very far. "Cyndaquil, use tackle again!" This time Cyndaquil didn't charge quite as hard because he knew that Mikey needed to capture it, and didn't damage Caterpie very much this time. He was now weak enough to capture, so Mikey threw his pokéball. Caterpie zipped inside in a pink light, then the ball fell to the ground and shook a couple of times. It was a very easy catch. "For some reason I feel like I've just captured the weakest pokémon alive," Mikey said in disappointment as he picked up his pokéball and put it in his backpack. "Well, Caterpie is one of the weakest pokémon," I told him, ". . . but look on the bright side, it _could_ be the world's strongest Caterpie!" Mikey gave a dry laugh and said, "Yeah . . . right . . ."

He took Caterpie to the pokémon center, then quickly returned for training. He battled a few weak pokémon, like other Caterpies and a couple of Weedles. Unfortunately, his Caterpie didn't stand a chance! He kept on losing, and had to make several trips to the pokémon center. His Caterpie hadn't even gone up a level yet! "Dang, this really _is_ the weakest pokémon alive!" Mikey complained. "Yeah, I guess it is pretty weak . . . well, just keep on battling, and maybe it'll turn out to be a good pokémon. Who knows!" I told him. Mikey looked pretty disappointed, but decided not to give up.


	6. Part II: Pallet Town to Pewter City 5

Mikey battled for another hour, and was almost giving up hope. I was there with him, trying to help him out. He was now fighting against a Metapod, which he said was going to be his very last try. "Okay, that's it! Caterpie, focus _really_ hard this time! Just let it all out, and frickin' _kill_ that thing if you have to!" Mikey said, frustrated. Caterpie looked a little confused. He looked at Mikey, then at me, and then at the Metapod. Once he saw the Metapod, he started to look very angry. Apparently, he was getting more frustrated than Mikey! "Okay, now use your tackle attack!" Caterpie backed up a few feet, with an evil look on his face, then he bolted forward with incredible force and smashed into Metapod, sending it clear back into the woods. It was gone in just one hit! Mikey stood still, his mouth open wide in disbelief.

We began to call his move the "super tackle", even though it was just a normal tackle attack; but it was so much more powerful than what other pokémon were capable of. Mikey fought many battles, easily getting Caterpie up many levels with just that one move. It made every pokémon faint in just one hit! Caterpie quickly evolved into Metapod, who could also use the "super tackle". With his improved pokémon, Mikey was ready to go to the gym, and so was I.

We took one last stop at the pokémon center before going to the gym. After our pokémon were healed, I saw a familiar face walk in the door. He was a tall guy, over six feet, with brown hair. "Jordan!?" I said in disbelief. "Dean!!" he said back. "Dude, how did you get here!?" I asked, and he asked the same thing in return. "Umm . . . okay, we'll just start with me first," I said. "Well, I woke up, and I heard my name being called on a loudspeaker thingy, so I walked up to the place that was calling me, and met this dude's dad, Professor Nick," I explained, pointing to Mikey, then I went on, "His dad told us we were going on a pokémon adventure, and we could choose to go to either Kanto or Johto, so we chose Kanto, ended up in Professor Oak's lab by taking a transporter thingy, and . . . yeah!" Jordan started his explanation, "Really? Almost the exact same thing happened with me, but they must have called me later. What pokémon did you choose as a starter?" "Well, I would've chose Charmander, but . . . well, we heard these weird voices in our heads, telling us to go outside, so we did. Then there was a bright pink flash, and a Dratini fell from it! I ran over and caught him, and then Professor Oak said I could have him as a starting pokémon because I saved his life," I explained. "Voices?" Jordan asked skeptically. "Don't ask. I can't really explain it," I replied. "Anyways, I was heck of lucky. Oh, and I also found a Farfetch'd in the Viridian Forest! Haha, I have better pokémon than you!" I said. "Yeah . . ." replied Jordan. I introduced Jordan to Mikey, and then we left the pokémon center.

"Soooo, what are you guys doing next?" Jordan asked. "The gym, of course," answered Mikey. Jordan looked slightly surprised. He said, "Already!? When did you guys get here?" "I don't know. All we've really done is trained our pokémon for the gym. We've probably been here in Pewter a couple hours," I told Jordan. "A couple hours? Dude, have you guys checked out the science museum yet? You gotta to check it out!" Jordan said persuasively. Mikey and I looked at each other, and Mikey said, "Okay, I guess we'll go there now, then." "Sweet," said Jordan.

We walked to the far north end of the city, which was right on the edge of the mountains. The museum was the largest building in the city, so it wasn't hard to find. We stepped inside, and a guy at the right behind a long counter said, "Hello! Welcome to the Pewter Museum of Science. It's 50 dollars for a ticket." "Um, we'll all take a ticket," I said. We each walked up and paid our 50 dollars, then turned left into the first section of the museum.

The whole first floor was the fossil section. There were two very long tables with glass over the top, and under the glass were tons of pokémon fossils. I looked at one of the fossils. The caption read: "Dome Fossil. This is a fossil of Kabuto, a pokémon that became extinct around 850 B.C. Its habitat was in the water, usually at the sea floor in jagged rock caves. Type: water/rock." I walked down the isle, looking for a really cool looking fossil. "Hey, Dean! Come check this out!" called Mikey, who was standing with Jordan at an enormous fossil hung on the wall in a thick glass case. I read the caption: "This is a fossil of Aerodactyl, a legendary pokémon that lived sometime between 900-800 B.C. This is the largest pokémon fossil ever discovered. Aerodactyl's habitat was in high, rocky mountains, in a desert climate. With its enormous jaw that could crush thick bones, it was at the top of the food chain. It was extremely fast, and had excellent mobility in the air. Type: rock/flying."

We pretty much saw all the cool stuff on the fossil floor, so we headed up to the space exhibit on floor 2. The same tables were on this floor, but they contained some strange looking rocks and other things from space. We walked to the nearest table, which had some very cool looking stones in it. The caption read: "Moon Stone. There is very little known about moon stones, but they were believed to all be part of a meteorite that crashed on Mount Moon hundreds of years ago. Clefairys and Clefables value this stone very highly; many scientists are still trying to find out why. Moon Stones are extremely rare, and can only be found on Mount Moon. Even on Mount Moon it is difficult to find one of these strange stones." I walked down all the rows, seeing really cool stones that were many colors. We walked around, looking for something interesting to look at. We found a really huge and detailed model of the space shuttle "Columbia", from the first lunar landing. "Holy crap, that's awesome!" exclaimed Mikey, taking a thorough look. The model was thoroughly detailed and highly realistic. This floor was almost starting to bore us, so we headed up to the next floor.

This next floor was the pokémon genetics floor, the newest exhibit to the museum. Apparently it was only built about six months ago. There was a huge poster on the back wall that talked about the genetic differences between the different types of pokémon. Half of the floor was information about Mew and Mewtwo, while the other half was just about the genetics of pokémon in general. We walked over to a water filled tank with a powerful microscope in front. I looked in it, and saw a strand of pokémon DNA. "Whoa, dude, check this out," I told Jordan and Mikey. Jordan looked through the microscope. "Oh, cool!" he exclaimed, absolutely fascinated. "It says this is a strand of Magikarp DNA . . . interesting." Mikey and I walked to the Mew/Mewtwo section, while Jordan continued gazing at the pokémon DNA. I looked at the Mew stuff, and Mikey looked at the Mewtwo stuff. "'Mewtwo was created from a Mew fossil after years and years of gene splicing . . .' hmmm . . . interesting . . ." I heard Mikey read from behind me. I looked in a glass square, looking at the Mew fossil that Mikey was reading about. "'Mew Fossil . . . discovered by a team of scientists while on a pokémon hunt in Guyana, South America . . .' cool," I read aloud. There was another microscope looking in a water filled tank to the right of the fossil, so I looked in. It was a strand of Mew's DNA. It looked a little different from the other DNA. The caption read: "Mew DNA. This DNA was extracted during the creation of Mewtwo."

Finally, it was time for Mikey and I to battle at the gym. Jordan hadn't been here as long, so he went back to Viridian Forest to train. I was the first one to go in and challenge the gym leader. The sign outside of the gym said: "PEWTER CITY POKÉMON GYM. LEADER: BROCK, the rock-solid pokémon trainer!" _Intimidating, _I thought to myself. I stepped in the door, and entered a gigantic room which appeared to be made out of gray rocks. The whole gym floor was rock, except for the flat battle area in the middle of the room. Brock was standing on the other end. We walked up to each other. "Hello, I'm Brock, leader of Pewter City Gym. And you are . . . ?" he asked. "Dean," I answered. Brock continued, "Do you wish to challenge me?" I nodded and said, "Of course."


	7. Part II: Pallet Town to Pewter City 6

We stood on either side of the arena. Brock called out his first pokémon: "Go, Geodude!" I called out Dratini: "Go, Dratini!" The battle began! "Dratini, your thunder wave move won't effect rock-type pokémon. You should use pound in this battle—it has the most power. Okay, go ahead!" I whispered to Dratini. He looked confident, and that made me much more comfortable. Dratini did as I instructed, and used his pound attack. He lifted his tail, and threw it downward on Geodude, sending it to the ground. It didn't do much damage, but it was all the damage it could have possibly done. "Geodude, rock throw!" Geodude threw some small rocks at Dratini, which did a pretty good amount of damage. Dratini used his pound again, and slammed Geodude down even harder. Critical hit! Geodude would be gone in only a couple more hits. "Geodude, defense curl!" Geodude curled up its body, increasing its defense. Dratini used his pound again, but it did even less damage than it did the first time! "Geodude, rock throw!" Geodude threw rocks at Dratini again. Dratini was almost gone! I pulled a potion out of my bag to heal him up. Dratini used pound once again, slowly whittling down Geodude's health. "Geodude, tackle attack!" Geodude charged forward, knocking Dratini back. Dratini shook his head, then used his pound attack again to finish him off. Geodude fainted! "Uh oh! Geodude, return! Go, Onix!" _Oh, dang!_ I thought, as I saw the gigantic Onix flash out of its pokéball. I had never seen a pokémon so enormous before . . . He looked majestic, and immensely powerful.

I had to switch pokémon. "Dratini, come back! Go Farfetch'd!" I called, throwing out Farfetch'd's pokéball. He looked a little nervous, but who wouldn't be against Onix? "Farfetch'd, you can use sand-attack to lower his accuracy. If you use it a bunch of times, it'll be hard for him to hit you. Try using that first, then go all-out offensive! Okay, here we go!" I told Farfetch'd. Onix was faster, so he was the first to attack this time. "Onix, tackle attack!" Onix charged forward, sending Farfetch'd back pretty far. Farfetch'd used sand attack, and used his wings to blow sand in Onix's face. "Onix, bide!" _Yes!_ I thought, knowing that bide would only do damage if you attacked. "Farfetch'd, just use sand attack while he's using that bide move. If you damage him, he'll deal double damage back to you!" Farfetch'd nodded, now looking very confident. He used sand attack once again. Since Onix was still biding, Farfetch'd kept using it. Onix had no energy to unleash—he couldn't use his bide attack. I used a potion on Farfetch'd right away. "Onix, rock throw!" ordered Brock. Onix tossed some rocks at Farfetch'd. It was super effective! Farfetch'd fainted! "Farfetch'd, return! Go Dratini!" I called quickly. "Onix, rock throw attack!" Onix threw rocks at Dratini, but missed because of Farfetch'd's sand attack. "Whew! Okay, Dratini, you know what to do!" Dratini nodded with confidence, and used his pound attack. It barely did any damage, but it was the only thing that would really work. "Onix, keep using rock throw until he's gone!" ordered Brock for the last time. Onix tried to use rock throw, but missed again. Dratini used his pound attack.

After a few more turns, Onix was a little over halfway gone. His rock throw move had missed many times. He used the move again, and this time it hit Dratini! Dratini was left with barely any life! I used another potion, healing him back up again. I could tell that Brock was getting a little tense. Onix threw more rocks, but missed yet again. Dratini used pound. Critical hit! Onix was almost gone! Onix threw more rocks, missed, then Dratini used pound again. Next hit and Onix was gone! Onix used his rock throw, and hit again. Dratini was left with about half of his life. He lifted his tail, and flung it downward, smashing into Onix. The battle was over.

"Wow, that was amazing!" cried Brock. "I haven't lost a battle in a while. You must be quite a trainer. Here, I'll hand you your prize, the Boulder Badge." Brock handed me a small badge that resembled a rock. "Whoa, thanks!" I told him, putting it in my backpack. "If you collect eight or more badges, you can get in the Pokémon League Headquarters, where the Elite Four is. Looks like you've got seven more to go. If you defeat the Elite Four, you'll gain the title of 'Pokémon Master'. I'm sure you already know this, since every trainer strives for that goal, but since you're a new trainer I just wanna make sure. Well, that was a great battle! I guess I'll see ya later!" Brock said. "Okay, see ya!" I said back, waving as I left the gym.

Mikey was waiting for me outside. "So, how'd it go?" he asked. I pulled out my badge. "Tite, dude! You got your first badge!" Mikey complimented, smiling. "Well, good luck. I'm headin' to the pokémon center," I told him. "All right, see ya," he said back.

About ten minutes later, I returned to the gym. Mikey walked out with a tired, yet relieved, look on his face. "Did you win?" I asked. Mikey smiled while pulling out his badge. "Yeah . . . sure did . . . by a millimeter . . ." I nodded, and said, "Awesome, dude. Both of us got our first gym badges!" We high-fived really hard, and continued back to the pokémon center to get Mikey's pokémon healed. After that, we would head off to our next destination: Mount Moon.


End file.
